Our team is getting back into the rhythm of day-to-day office work after three intense days at Phocuswright Europe in Barcelona this June. Here’s what we brought back from the event.
Background: What Is Phocuswright Europe?
Phocuswright Europe is a conference held annually in Europe that gathers thought leaders and innovators from travel, tourism, and hospitality coming from both the European continent and beyond. Once again, it served as a platform for discussing current trends, tech advancements, and the future of travel in its entirety. This year’s event welcomed over 600 attendees, including executives, investors, and startups, from more than 20 countries and proved to be an excellent playground for networking and first-hand market dynamics analysis.
Program Highlights and Key Participants
The 2025 program included interactive sessions, an Exhibitor Showcase/Networking Lounge, and a wealth of opportunities for one-on-one meetings with our potential partners and clients. We particularly enjoyed the industry roundtables — intimate, off-the-record curated discussions moderated by industry experts and analysts, where participants could focus on specific business interests.
GP Solutions had the chance to hear insights from executives of such notable companies as TripAdvisor, Booking.com, Hyatt, Cloudbeds, Lufthansa, Expedia Group, Ryanair, Amadeus, TravelPerk, Salesforce, Nezasa, Skyscanner, and BlaBlaCar, to name a few.
Hot Topics and Discussions
The travel industry is booming, yet it is overshadowed by geopolitical and economic concerns. This complex landscape was reflected in the event’s agenda. Here is an array of critical topics we found most intriguing:
- Travel tech trends witnessed around the globe — from talks of AI to changing traveler behaviors;
- AI-first discovery and the resulting disruptions in travel distribution. Traditional traffic metrics are collapsing, with travel businesses racing to adapt to land on AI recommendations;
- Investors’ perspectives on the industry’s landscape. Startups are receiving less funding for their endeavors, with investors expecting greater automation and cost savings due to AI;
- Insights into luxury travel. Luxury travelers still prefer traditional tours, yet they are more inclined to consider specialty trips;
- Accelerated innovations in hospitality tech;
- GenAI for trip planning;
- Overtourism as one of the most urgent issues facing popular destinations;
- Dramatic changes in corporate travel;
- Transformation in the ground transportation sector.
Despite all the hype around AI and its unlimited potential for the travel industry, there were also warnings against premature confidence in AI automation. Importantly, there was no sense of “you’ve already missed out on AI,” which is often felt at AI conferences.
Overall, the content shared by participants from the stage was high-quality, and we strongly advise checking the video recordings on Phocuswright’s official website.
Networking and Business Opportunities
For us, networking was an intense and pleasant experience, although we had a hard time attending all desired meetings — there were many. The structured roundtables were particularly successful, providing an informal setting for connections. While most meetings were partner-focused, we still had the chance to meet potential clients, with some discussions now progressing to further stages of negotiations for the launch of a software development project by GP Solutions.
We held approximately 30 business meetings, which underscores the event’s value as an excellent venue to meet and connect.
Final Verdict
Phocuswright Europe 2025 solidified its reputation as one of the industry’s top conferences. It proved highly valuable, consistently delivering worthwhile leads and providing deep insights into the future of travel. GP Solutions strongly recommends annual participation, emphasizing its significant worth for establishing business contacts and gaining up-to-date industry knowledge.
Thank you all for showing your interest in our products and services! And see you at Phocuswright Europe 2026!
